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A recent study from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montreal has concluded that microglia, which is a form of a brain cell can trim down the influence from the use of cocaine in the brain. 

According to Medical Xpress, the finding which was published in the journal Neuron could be a pivotal key to the creation of a valuable treatment for substance addiction. In the study, it was discovered that microglia can weaken the fluctuations to the neural circuit courtesy of one's prolonged use of cocaine.

Dr. David Stellwagen, senior author and researcher from the Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience at the RI-MUHC and associate professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University declared that, "What we discovered is that cocaine activates this microglia, which causes the release of an inflammatory signal which then tries to reverse the changes that cocaine is inducing in the neurons."

Microglia may not be as well-known as neurons, the brain cells that relay messages, but they have many important functions. They constantly monitor their environment, and can act to maintain normal brain functioning. When they find something amiss, they can produce molecules that instruct neurons to make adaptive changes to their connections. One such example is the inflammatory molecule known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF).

Researchers distinguished this microglia-mediated reversal by watching the machinations of TNF on a specific cluster of synapses in the brain.

"These connections are really important for regulating the behavior response in animal models to drugs of abuse such as cocaine. The microglia response fades over time. One of the things that could transition somebody from just casual use into chronic dependency might be the fading of this adaptive signal which then allows the drugs to solidify their change to the neural circuitry," Co-first author Sarah Konefal who is McGill Ph.D. student in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience said.

The team used a pharmaceutical agent to entice the stimulation of microglial production by TNF. Researchers detected that a cocaine-induced behavioral was expressed by the mice while the progressive increase in movement induced by cocaine,-was reduced in the animals who received this agent.

As a conclusion, the study hopes to develop a treatment that would conquer the hunger conveyed by users especially in nerve-wracking situations especially when they are re-exposed to such happenings.